


Sunshine in a Cup

by moo_lan



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Attempt at Humor, Betaed, Bokuaka - Freeform, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou are Bros, Fluff and Humor, Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio Friendship, Hinata Shouyou & Yachi Hitoka Friendship, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, Humor, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kageyama Tobio Being an Idiot, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Good Friend, M/M, Mentioned Hinata Natsu, Minor Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Mutual Pining, Nishinoya Yuu & Tanaka Ryuunosuke are Bros, Oblivious Hinata Shouyou, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, Team Dad Sawamura Daichi, Team Parents Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a lil bit of kurotsukki, kenhina - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 17,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22400026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moo_lan/pseuds/moo_lan
Summary: This is the third time this week that Hinata has glimpsed a certain pudding-haired young man at the cafe he works at.Not that he's complaining.////aka the fanfic that we all need of Hinata and the Karasuno gang working at a cafe and Kenma being a regular there because of a certain sunshine that lately he's found himself thinking a lot about
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 183
Kudos: 393





	1. One more cup of coffee please...// Isn't it your third today though???

**Author's Note:**

> my usual genre is kinda angsty, so this (writing romance/fluff/whatever) is kinda out of my comfort zone.  
> any feedback will be **extremely** appreciated!!! ʕ/ ·ᴥ·ʔ/
> 
> Betaed by the amazing (if i do say so myself) [TheOwlPost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOwlPost/pseuds/TheOwlPost)!!!

Lately, Hinata had been finding himself involuntarily looking around for a bleached head among his clients. This week, Kenma, as Shouyou had heard one of the boy's friends call him, had already come twice and it was only Wednesday, but the orange-haired boy was beginning to lose hope that he'd glimpse him this time.

“Hinata, you dumbass, the latte's overflowing!” yelled Kageyama from behind him, bringing to his attention that yes, the latte _was_ overflowing and spilling to the floor.

Muttering angrily, Hinata grabbed a cloth and wiped the spilled drink from the counter, then started to make another. He took a marker and scribbled “Bokuto” on it, then headed to the counter, where the owner, an owlish teen, was busy describing something to his friend with a multitude of hand gestures.

“One latte, extra sweet.” called Hinata and handed Bokuto the drink.

“Thanks, Shrimpy.” said the boy, taking his coffee.

The orange-haired boy fidgeted for a second, trying to muster his courage, then opened his mouth to dare ask the question that had been pressing him for some time now.

“Where's your friend?” he asked, trying to appear nonchalant, but probably failing, considering the smile that Bokuto gave his companion.

“You mean Kenma? Him and Kuroo are coming, don't worry.” grinned the owl, then turned to his friend and continued his explanation, heading for the door.

They were right, the two teens entering the cafe later in the morning, the shorter one snapping at his black-haired friend as the latter muttered something, wearing a fiendish grin. A blush graced the blond's cheeks and he headed to their usual booth, slumping in his seat. Kuroo followed him and sat down across from him, grinning and saying something that the other dutifully ignored as he stared at his phone.

Trying not to seem too excited, Hinata took his pad and walked to their table.

“Hi, would you like the usual?” he chirped, smiling at the two.

Kuroo snickered.

“Yeah, the usual.” he grinned, probably communicating something to Kenma telepathically, because the other huffed and ignored him.

“I swear to God, you're so oblivious it's killing me.” muttered Kageyama as Hinata reached him, but shook his head as the orange-haired boy shot him a questioning look.

It was late afternoon when Hinata neared their booth the third time, glancing at the two, who seemed to be doing an assignment on their laptops.

“Do you guys want anything else?” he asked them.

“Another coffee, please.” answered Kenma.

Kuroo was trembling with barely restrained laughter.

“Isn't it your third, though?” he asked the boy.

“He _really_ likes coffee.” declared Kuroo, his smirk confusing Hinata. Why is it so funny that he likes coffee this much?

“One more coffee, coming up.” he smiled at the pudding-haired boy.

“Thanks, Shouyou.” said Kenma, the answering smile bringing warmth in Hinata's chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hit that kudos button and spam me with comments


	2. He's usually so smooth he needs to fucking calm down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i live for kenma glaring at a snickering kuroo while hinata is oblivious in the background

When Kuroo snickered the third time, Kenma slammed shut his laptop and, leaning over the table, glared at him.

“Will you stop already?” he whisper-shouted, stealing a glance towards the counter, where the sunshine boy was bickering with a taller, dark-haired colleague.

“It's just-” wheezed Kuroo “he's so clueless. I can't-” and he started snickering again, not even his friend's withering glare being able to stop him this time.

A yell made Kenma turn and look towards the counter, where the orange-haired boy was being shouted at by his friend after managing to topple over the tower of cups.

“Here's your coffee.” said a disheveled-looking Hinata, handing the boy his third latte that day.

“Thanks, Shouyou.” he managed to hold his gaze for a couple of seconds before he started feeling the top of his ears getting red and looking away.

“We need to go.” declared Kuroo, apparently his limit being spending four hours in the same cafe, and he stood up. “Bye, Shrimpy.”

Kenma fumbled with his wallet a second while mentally cursing himself because _why does he always become this clumsy only when Shouyou's here he's usually so smooth he needs to fucking calm down_ , then gave the boy the payment and shuffled out.

He closed door just when a shout sounded from inside and he turned to notice Hinata darting out of Kageyama's path.

“Hinata, you dumbass!” he yelled, slipping on the spilled drink.

“Kageyama, you moron!” responded the boy, grabbing a cloth “It wasn't my fault!”

Smiling as the onslaught of insults was stopped by an angry Daichi shouting “What the actual fuck are you two doing?” and grabbing the two by their collars and shaking them thoroughly “You're scaring the clients!”, Kenma followed Kuroo.


	3. "Kuroo is a little shit"- Kozume Kenma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as promised, here is one more chapter
> 
> don't forget to hit the kudos button

When Kenma entered the cafe he was greeted by the pleasant smell of roasted coffee and a euphony made up of curses, insults and sounds of a scuffle.

“Let me go, damn you!” bellowed Kageyama, struggling against the hold Hinata had on the hem of his shirt, trying to lunge for a smirking Tsukishima.

Screeching, Hinata let go, falling flat on his back as Kageyama crashed into a chair and landed sprawled on the tiled floor.

Even from the doorway, Kenma could hear Shouyou's gulp.

Kageyama stood up and silently brushed off imaginary dust from his apron.

“Shit it's Calmgeyama.” whispered Hinata.

“There he goes, inventing names...” muttered Ennoshita from behind the counter while wiping glasses with a cloth.

Kenma felt something bump into him from behind and he looked over his shoulder to see a surprised but amused Kuroo. The tall boy gestured towards their usual table and they headed there, Lev and Yaku behind them. A screech sounded again and Kenma turned to see a tuft of orange hair ducking behind a counter and a blonde girl- Yachi was her name, remembered Kenma- trying desperately to coax him out of his hiding place.

“They're always so lively.” smiled Kuroo.

“Hinata!” shouted Lev from next to Kenma, and Hinata's head resurfaced, eyes darting around before glimpsing the source.

“Lev!” he yelled and darted toward him, bumping fists with his impossibly tall friend.

“Hi Kenma!” grinned Shouyou, eyes fixed upon the teen's.

“Hi.”

“Hinata, stop bothering the customers and come do your job!” sounded a shout from behind the boy, making him turn and go back with a quick “see you later”.

“I swear to God one of these days I'll tell him. You're killing me.” muttered Kuroo before sliding into his seat.

“I'll murder you in your sleep.” stated Kenma nonchalantly before turning to smile at Shouyou, who had come to take their orders.

Grinning from ear to ear like the little shit Kenma knew him to be, Kuroo leaned on his elbow on the table and inquired, while Kenma kicked his shin incessantly under the table:

“Say, Chibi-chan, are you seeing anyone?”


	4. He only heard the word "single"

Kenma glared at Kuroo, then glanced at Hinata, who had turned a brilliant shade of pink before stuttering something unintelligible and staggering away to the counter.

“If they kick us out and we're not allowed to come here again I swear to God I will murder you for this.” angrily muttered Kenma before turning his attention back towards the employees, who seemed to be having an emergency meeting, standing in a circle with their backs hunched, Hinata a lone figure outside the circle, apparently excluded from the conference. They seemed to arrive to a conclusion, because Hinata once again walked over to their table, head bowed and dragging his feet.

He whispered something from which Kenma only heard the word “single”, and then mustered again his cheerful smile, asking them if they'll have the usual.


	5. Hinata, you dumbass, the coffees are overflowing again!

“Say, Chibi-chan, are you seeing anyone?” asks Kuroo, his grin making Hinata's face overheat instantly. He didn't notice the pang of disappointment he felt, lost in a chaos of swirling thoughts and internal crisises because _how do you even answer something like that when the one who asked you is the best friend of-_

What? Who?

Shit what should he answer

**Shit**

He breathed a hasty “excuse me” before shuffling towards the counter, where he grabbed Nishinoya by the shoulder.

“Nishinoya-san. Kuroo-san asked me if I'm seeing anyone.” he whispered, face a dimmer shade of red now.

Noya broke into a wide grin, eyes widening far enough for cartoon-y stars to be glimpsed. He let out a silent but shrill screech, pulling Tanaka and the others by the arm until they formed a circle. Sugawara cleared his throat and glanced at Hinata, who was instantly pushed out of their meeting.

The orange-haired boy stood next to his colleagues, desperately trying to eavesdrop and stop vibrating at the same time. He shifted his weight from one foot to another while waiting for the others' verdict.

“No but-”

“Shh, he'll hear you.”

“But-”

“ _Shh_ ”

After finally coming to a decision, Tanaka ordered Hinata to go over to the table, state that he's single, and _take their order, do your job goddammit_.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata wiped his sweaty palms on the sides of his apron and dragged his suddenly heavy feet to the table, ignoring the burning tops of his ears. He muttered something completely unintelligible even for his own ears, taking care to utter the word “single” somewhere in the sentence.

Then he plastered on his brightest smile.

“Will you have the usual today?” he chirped.

The four clients seemed at a loss for words for a couple of moments, before nodding dumbfoundedly. Kuroo was grinning from ear to ear and Hinata prayed to God that the boy didn't like him because-

Because what?

Face scrunched up in concentration, Hinata headed back to the counter, where he started making their coffees. He wondered why he didn't want Kuroo to have a crush on him. Was it because he didn't have feelings for the guy? No, there was something more.

Golden eyes flashed in his mind and he flinched.

What?

_Wait a moment._

“Hinata, you dumbass, the coffees are overflowing again!” yelled Kageyama from behind him, smacking the back of his head and derailing the boy's train of thought.

He grabbed the cloth to wipe the spilled liquid and continued making the coffee, forgetting what he'd been thinking about. 

However, when he headed to the table, the cat-like eyes that analyzed him unblinkingly tugged on something in his gut and he found himself dreaming of golden orbs that night.


	6. Hinata you fucking moron

The next morning, as he was cycling to work, Hinata found himself thinking about his dream the night before. The golden orbs reminded him of something, but he couldn't put his finger on it...

_Oh._

He narrowly avoided a telegraph pole as he lost control of the bike for a moment. It reminded him of Kenma's eyes! Wondering why he would dream about the boy's eyes, Hinata came to the conclusion that the boy was actually pretty nice and he kinda liked him.

He should befriend him. Yeah, he'd be a good friend!

Ignoring the feeling that he was missing something, Shouyou parked his bike and entered the shop. He yelled a greeting and heard shouted answers echoing back as he headed for the staff rooms to change in his uniform.

As he was exiting and tying the apron at his back, Hinata noticed his colleagues at the counter and called to them.

“Guys! I just realized something. You know Kenma, our regular?”

The boys nodded, Noya wearing a hopeful grin.

“I realized that I really wanna befriend him!” he declared, proud of his realization, but was taken aback by the collective groan that escaped the group.

“Hinata you fucking moron.” sighed Kageyama, for once appearing not to have the energy to hit the shorter boy.

“What?” he inquired.

The boys just shook their heads and walked off.

“Guys! What is it?” he shouted.

Another collective sigh was his only answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> message me or just scream into the void on my instagram account:
> 
> [@savage__matchmaker](https://www.instagram.com/savage__matchmaker/)


	7. The next day, Kenma and Kuroo didn't show up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, as usual any feedback is more than welcome! just hit that comment button

The next day, Kenma and Kuroo didn't show up.

At first, Hinata thought that they would just come later than usual. However, it soon reached late afternoon and their other regulars, Bokuto and Akaashi, showed up without their companions, aka Kuroo and a bored Kenma, in tow.

As soon as Hinata finished their coffees, he darted to the two and, handing them their drinks, fidgeted on the spot for a few moments before opening his mouth to utter the question that had been bugging him all day.

“Did something happen to Kenma and Kuroo?” he asked, a concerned light shining in his eyes.

Bokuto grinned and Akaashi kicked him.

-*-

“Did something happen to Kenma- and Kuroo?” asked Bokuto's little protege, eyebrows drawn together with concern.

Bokuto flashed a bright grin, glancing at Akaashi. _See? The little shrimp **likes** small Kenma. He's asking his senpai for advice!_ His grin widened even further.

Akaashi kicked him viciously in the shin. _That's not what he's doing,_ he hissed. _Be careful you don't say something stupid, Kuroo will murder you if you scare the shrimp away from Kenma._ His eyes darted to Hinata and back to Bokuto again, but the owlish teen's attention was already elsewhere.

Sighing, Akaashi watched the orange-haired teen vibrate with anticipation as Bokuto whipped out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he reached Kozume. 

“Why don't you ask him yourself?” he asked, showing his protege the contact information with a grin even wider than before, pride obvious on his face. 

The teen suddenly stilled, eyes wide and unblinking. He fumbled with his apron until he reached a hidden pocket and, taking out his cellphone, started typing in the phone number. 


	8. How did he get his number though

The noise made by his vibrating telephone woke up Kenma from where he'd curled up in front of the game console, body ensconced in thick blankets and cheek painfully squished against the remote. He glanced at the time and sighed. He'd accidentally slept in until noon again. Groaning, he reached for the phone lying on his desk and slumped back down among the blankets heaped on the floor.

_hi, this is hinata!_

The boy frowned at the screen, thoughts still muddled by sleep. Hinata? It couldn't be...

_hinata shouyou, from the cafe!!!_

Well, that answered that. How did he get his number, though?

_you didn't come in today so I asked bokuto-san about it! he gave me your number_

Did this guy read his mind?

What was he supposed to write back, though?

For a moment he considered asking Kuroo about it, but he could already picture the guy's smug grin and his teasing about _love-struck Kenma_.

His fingers hovered above the keyboard, and he erased and retyped the message several times before pressing send.

_Hi Shouyou. I'm fine, I just overslept._

His answer was neutral enough, wasn't it?

Kenma stared at the little dots flickering on the screen for a while.

What if it was **too** neutral?

His thoughts had started drifting away from the subject when he felt the phone buzz again in his hands. He looked down at it and noticed an aggressively long “excited” kaomojii typed by Hinata. He smiled and tapped on his folder of happy cat stickers, which he only ever used with Kuroo.

Just before he hit “send”, he changed his mind.

 _:)_ he sent back. Neutral enough, right?

-*-

Startled, Yachi yelped as Hinata fell off the chair, screeching.

“Hinata! Are you OK?” she asked, looking down at the smiling teen, who was laying with his back on the floor, feet still tangled in the chair's legs.

Smiling, he nodded excitedly, darting off to do his job before Daichi noticed him lazing around.


	9. Kuroo was full-on cackling now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> current mood: dancing while writing fanfiction and listening to the same songs on loop at 2 A.M.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata carefully balanced the tray of cups on his palm and made his way between the haphazardly placed tables, taking special care not to drop the drinks as he had done the first two times he'd tried making this journey.

He could feel his colleagues' eyes fixed on the back of his head, curious to see how his journey went this time. The door suddenly opened and he beheld his favorite regular in the entrance, accompanied by Kuroo who was grinning like crazy( as usual).

Before he knew what was happening, his feet were tripping each other and he was stumbling, tray crashing noisily to the ground, cups breaking and drinks spilling on the floor.

“Shit,” he muttered as he crouched to pick up the shards.

There was an audible gasp and an exclamation of _Who taught Hinata that word I will murder you!_ , followed by stomping of feet and screeches. Hinata didn't let himself turn to face his colleagues, afraid that Daichi was watching and would rebuke him if he stopped cleaning up the mess he'd made. He spotted a pair of feet in front of him and he lifted his head to Kenma, who was handing him one of the cups which had rolled farther than the others.

He took the cup and, at a loss for words for a few moments, didn't get to thank him before a yell startled him into dropping it again.

“Hinata, don't let the customers clean the floor! What is _wrong_ with you?”

He turned, a bit flustered, towards its source.

“Shut up, Stupidgeyama!” he shouted back.

Kuroo snickered loudly and Hinata turned to look at the duo, when he noticed Kenma's T-Shirt's familiar design.

“OhmygodisthataLegendofZeldashirt.” he breathed, slightly trembling with excitement.

Kuroo was full-on cackling.

“Yeah,” answered Kenma, apparently not shocked by his inability to pause between words.

“Oh wow I **love** that game!” he exclaimed, continuing to pick up the shards from the floor under Daichi's stern glare that he felt burrowing into his skull. “I'm not that good at it, though,” he shyly admitted.

“I can teach you.” said Kenma, who seemed just as surprised as Hinata and Kuroo by his offer. 

-*- 

_Oh no. Why did I propose that? It's gonna be so awkward what do I do if -”_

“That would be **awesome**! Thanks!” came the answer, the orange-haired teen visibly excited, the grin he was wearing making Kenma smile and relax. 

Maybe it wouldn't be that bad after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kuroo is a fucking icon i love him so much


	10. The Bokoblin lunged for Link and Hinata screeched

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, a new chapter every Monday. Enjoy!!
> 
> Comments make me so happy, thanks to those who write nice things (≡^∇^≡), they always cheer me up and encourage me to keep writing!!!(ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

It _was_ that bad after all.

Hinata wasn't just _not that good at it_ , he _sucked_.

A lot.

The first time Kenma had seen Hinata die because he stumbled upon a sleeping guardian, he'd just deemed the boy unlucky. But as he managed to get killed by a Bokoblin the tenth time, Kozume realized that his guest was actually lacking _any_ kind of video-game-related instincts.

He finally gave in to the urge to correct Shouyou.

“You should enter the weapons menu immediately after your sword breaks.” he muttered.

The Bokoblin lunged for Link and Hinata screeched, pushing the remote in Kenma's hands.

“You do it, you do it!” he exclaimed, shaken by the sudden attack.

“Here you go,” said Kozume after defeating the monsters, handing the remote to the other boy.

“Oh, why don't you play?” asked Hinata, attention still on the TV, “I like watching you play more than playing myself.”

Kenma froze. He was glad that Shouyou's attention was on the screen and the boy was therefore unable to notice the blush on Kozume's cheeks as he brusquely hit the buttons on the remote.

“Oooh, horse, _horse_!” exclaimed Hinata, energetically pointing towards where a horse was calmly grazing on the pasture, “Let's tame it!”

Not bothering to mention that this would be their sixth horse and they'd have to let one go, Kenma obliged.

It was late at night when Shouyou's phone rang, his roommate yelling at him to come home.

“Hinata, a pipe exploded! There's water _everywhere_! Get your lazy ass here and help me!” sounded Kageyama's voice, loud enough that even Kenma could hear him clearly.

“Holy Cow!” shouted, Hinata, making Kenma laugh silently beside him. “I'll be there in 15!”

He stood up, and excusing himself, headed for the front door.

“Thanks a lot for showing me how to play, Kenma! I'll beat you next time!” he promised, stumbling as he put his left shoe on his right foot.

He barely had time to say goodbye before Hinata was out of the door, jacket haphazardly strewn across on shoulder as he darted for the stairs.

 _It's not even a multiplayer game,_ smiled Kenma, already absentmindedly wondering when he should invite Shouyou over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going through a severe AkiAkane phase again since I rediscovered flashback. Get help guys I'm crying I love [ this song](https://youtu.be/CG2o3OTuzgY) so much ಥ‿ಥ
> 
> scream in the comments if you get what i'm feeling and you too have suffered because of that beautiful song and its amazing lyrics ~~oh shit i'm crying again~~


	11. the boy kicked the thug's jewels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello there rocky54u, you literal angel, your comments are wonderful ˙˚ʚ(´◡`)ɞ˚˙
> 
> for [alec](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alecscribbles), you're a wonderful human being and so supportive,, putting up with me always talking about how much i love haikyuu,, i told you i'll dedicate the next chapter to you ᏊˊꈊˋᏊ

Furrowing his brow, Hinata glanced down at the shopping list in his hands written in Kageyama's illegible scrawl.

 _Ep-,_ he frowned down at the writing _Epaxg? Epoxy?_ Glancing up at the hardware store's sign, he spotted “epoxy” among the words in the list. He had absolutely no idea what he was searching for looked like and he regretted that he hadn't asked Kageyama before he'd left home.

A sudden noise made Hinata's eyes dart around him, searching for its source. He quickly spotted a group of bulky teens standing around a smaller figure trying to shrink lower in their hoodie, tightly gripping a small convenience store bag.

A multitude of feelings assaulted Hinata, anger being the strongest of them and overtaking him before he knew what was happening. He balled his fists at his sides and gritted his teeth.

Eyes narrowed, Hinata headed for the group and patted the nearest one on his forearm.

“Excuse me, but I think you're bothering him,” said the boy, trying to appear as menacing as possible.

The boys roared with laughter and reached for the teen between them, who shuddered, and his hood fell back to reveal familiar unblinking golden cat-like eyes.

_Kenma,_

was all Hinata thought before punching the throat of the thug who'd grabbed his friend.

The bullies froze and the largest one yelled, lunging for Hinata. The boy kicked the thug's jewels and, taking Kenma by the hand, made a run for it. They headed for the nearest shop, a cafe, and burst in, slamming the door open. The bell violently jingled, startling the employees.

Panting, Hinata hunched over, his hands planted on his knees and accidentally let go of Kenma's hand, palm cold where his companion's used to be pressed.

“Are you OK?” asked the boy, turning to the blonde and staring unblinkingly in the golden orbs that had been featured in his dreams as of late.

“Yeah,” answered his friend, a bit disbelievingly.

He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, causing Hinata's stomach to tighten strangely and his usual buzz of energy to drain weirdly through his feet and into the ground. His legs hurt. Weird.

“I'm glad!” he grinned, then he turned to the door and looked through its window. The boys were nowhere to be seen. They'd probably left.

“They're probably still out there,” lied Hinata before he realized what he was doing.

 _Well, it isn't necessarily a **lie**. They might still be out there,_ he thought, staring at his friend.

“Do you wanna have something to drink until they leave?” he asked, proud of the nonchalance with which he'd asked the question.

-*-

Kenma glanced out the door over his friend's shoulder and, unbeknownst to him, reached the same conclusion as Hinata:

_They're probably gone by now._

“Do you wanna have something to drink until they leave?” asked Shouyou.

_They left already._

“Yeah, sure,” answered Kenma.

-*-

It was late afternoon when they departed.

Hinata offered to walk Kenma home and, surprising them both, he readily accepted. The mending material for the pipes long forgotten, the orange-haired boy skipped beside his friend, making him smile with his chatter and energetic gesticulating.

They were soon on the boy's street, when Hinata's phone vibrated. He muttered an apology to his companion and took it out.

 _where r u? need epoxy, hurry,_ said the message from Kageyama.

Hinata stilled, cursing his forgetfulness.

 _forgot. im with kenma,_ he typed back, dread coiled around his stomach as he waited for the answer. Oh, he's gonna be **so** mad.

The dots blinked for a few seconds as Kageyama deleted and retyped his message.

 _k dont worry have fun,_ he answered.

 _Wait, what? “Have fun”? Kageyama actually said that?_ thought Hinata, frowning as he pocketed his phone.

He turned to Kenma, who was standing eerily still and staring at the night sky, his breath clouding in front of him in the cold twilight air. The sun was still visible somewhat, its last rays filtering stubbornly through the trees bordering the street.

“Wow, the sunset is so pretty!” exclaimed Hinata, pointing to the slice of sun still noticeable.

His friend turned to look at the sunset and slightly smiled.

“It looks like you, Shouyou,” he murmured before he could stop himself. Startled, his eyes darted to Hinata, whose eyes had widened and whose mouth was slightly agape in a surprised 'oh'.

 _Oh shit,_ Kenma couldn't help but think as his stomach tightened in a painful knot.

The moment lasted only very little, since Hinata broke into a grin that thawed all of the boy's apprehension.

“Thanks, it's the hair, isn't it?” asked the boy, smiling as he tugged at a few wayward strands of sunny hair.

Kenma thought of the cheerful smiles that made anyone mirror the expression, the lively chatter and the way that the room always seemed brighter with Shouyou in it. How his anxiety turned to not-exactly-unpleasant butterflies in the stomach when the boy was near. The way Hinata called his name, happily, always happily.

_No, it's not the hair._

“Yeah, that must be it,” smiled Kenma, not bothering to feel disappointed with himself as he beheld the other boy's cheerfulness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't forget to tell me your thoughts on this chapter, hit that comment box! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ


	12. was that a jar of coffee?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter cause i'm being productive and because theowlpost is amazing and gives me great feedback  
> //  
> i love kenma with my whole heart and hinata is the only sun i need in my life. i'm so attached to these dorks  
> ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆

It was a couple of days after “the thug incident”, or “the second time dumbass Hinata was on a date without realizing it” as Kageyama, Noya and Sugawara called it behind the orange-haired boy's back, when an eviction notice was taped on Karasuno Cafe's front door.

Hinata came to work that day as usual, entering his usual cheerful self only for his happy greeting to be met by a heavy atmosphere of gloom.

Daichi was sitting with his head in his hands, Sugawara futilely trying to comfort his friend with an equally discouraged expression. Noya seemed to be in a state of shock, Tanaka wearing a similar expression next to him. Tsukishima and Kageyama were all riled up, seemingly ready to race to the landlord to give him a piece of their mind.

“What's happening?” Hinata asked Yamaguchi, who seemed to be the only one not completely shaken by the news.

“We gotta move,” replied the boy, gaze blank. Well, not that unshaken then. He was probably still somewhat in denial.

Hinata blinked. The next instant, he was running for the door and slamming it against the wall as he opened it and if Ukai-san hadn't been there that exact instant, he-

“What do you think you're doing?” he angrily asked him, holding him by the collar and thoroughly shaking him as if to get some sense into him.

“Hinata, were you about to go to the landlord just now?” coolly inquired Takeda-sensei, adjusting his glasses with his middle finger, eyes invisible behind the lenses.

The boy gulped and was preparing to muster an excuse when Shimizu cleared her throat and the whole room's attention shifted to her.

“Well, we only need to find a new location, don't we? We've been talking about moving for a while, anyway,” she murmured, her cool demeanor managing to slightly calm everybody's despair.

“When's the deadline?”

“Three months.”

A sharp intake of breath resounded through the whole room.

 _That's abrupt,_ thought Hinata, and he could tell that the others thought the same thing.

A clap startled them out of their reverie.

“Come on, get to work! Me and Takeda-sensei will take care of finding a new place. For now, do your jobs; no dallying! Yeah, I'm talking to you especially, Hinata! Get a move on, kids, come on! We gotta open in ten minutes!” shouted Ukai, sending each of them to their posts and distracting them from their worries.

-*-

“Don't you think that Karasuno is a lot less lively today?” asked Kuroo, nudging Kenma in the ribs and drawing his attention from the project on his laptop.

The blonde glanced at Shouyou, whose usually omnipresent smile was unusually rare in its appearance today. He frowned in concern, but quickly masked the emotion.

“Not really,” he muttered, hoping his black-haired friend had missed his expression.

However, Kuroo had noticed it and was trying to cover a grin.

_Oh, he'd already realized it? How observant of you, Kenma,_ mused the boy, trying to stifle the impulse to tease his friend. He was saved by his one and only bro, who, shouting a **hey hey hey!!!** , approached them, a tired-looking Akaashi accompanying him. 

When noticing Bokuto, Hinata suddenly popped up, making Kuroo start. 

“Bokuto-san, Akaashi-san, hello!” he greeted them, then his smile dimmed somewhat as he beheld the brunette's exhausted expression. “Oh wow, Akaashi-san, are you OK?” 

Tired eyes flicked to him, gaze blank. The boy sipped out of his huge can of coffee. 

“Finals are kicking my ass,” he sighed, empty eyes gazing into Hinata's. 

“I bet you'll ace them all!” exclaimed Shouyou, smiling encouragingly at the tired boy. 

“Too bright,” winced Akaashi, turning around and sitting down at the table while Hinata confusedly started at him. 

“Another one?” the orange-haired boy inquired, inclining his head at the _was that **jar** of coffee?_

The brunette grunted in confirmation and rested his forehead on the table, muttering definitions for the next test under his breath, and Hinata headed to the counter to prepare their drinks. 

“Going to the bathroom,” muttered Kenma, standing up from the table. The others nodded and returned to their attempts at convincing Akaashi to go home to sleep instead of functioning on coffee only and revising constantly. 

“Shouyou,” called Kozume without any increase in volume, sure that his friend would hear him. 

“Yeah?” answered the boy from the other side of the counter, trying to make three lattes at once and failing spectacularly. 

“You OK?” asked Kenma, voice lowering as he ran out of breath and his bashfulness increased alarmingly, the tips of his ears turning bright red. 

“What?” inquired Hinata, despair on his face as all of the drinks started overflowing and spilling on the floor. His eyes darted towards his colleagues, but luckily Kageyama hadn't noticed his failure. “Oh, well. It's complicated.” he grabbed a new set of cups and a few moments had passed and Kenma had started thinking that the boy wouldn't continue speaking, but he went on. “We're getting evicted.” 

The blonde froze. Getting evicted? But they- 

“They can't do that,” firmly stated Kenma, earning a curious glance from his friend. He blushed and averted his eyes. He'd been too straightforward, damn it. “I mean, that's unfortunate,” he tried to correct himself, but Hinata was already smiling, having figured out what had caused his unusual outburst. 

“That's nice of you, thanks,” smiled Shouyou, “but it doesn't matter where the shop is. It will always be Karasuno Cafe as long as the employees and our regulars are here,” he said, brown eyes staring suggestively into golden ones. 

There was no hiding Kenma's fierce blush this time as he averted his gaze and Hinata grinned. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> akaashi is a mood
> 
> im _pretty sure_ that hinata doesn't realize that what he's doing is actual flirting. the dork is totally oblivious ʕ ﹷ ᴥ ﹷʔ  
> 


	13. karaoke!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!!! o(≧∇≦o) o(≧∇≦o)  
> comments make me very happy, tell me your thoughts on this fic and what i can do to make it better!  
> ᕕʕ •ₒ• ʔ୨ ᕕʕ •ₒ• ʔ୨

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, its cheerful rays filtering through the cotton-like clouds, illuminating Hinata's flame hair in a fiery outburst of color. However, the idyllic weather was the last thing on the teen and his friends' minds as they stared at the papers taped to the front of the college door, where they'd come to check the results of Bokuto and Akaashi's final exams.

“I- **passed**!” yelled Bokuto, throwing his arms in the air and shouting victoriously, bumping chests with Kuroo as they both laughed triumphantly.

“Akaashi-san?” tentatively called Hinata, leaning forward in an attempt to glimpse the boy's expression. “How did you-” he paused, startled by his senpai's tear-streaked face.

“It's over,” Akaashi whispered, sitting back on the steps and setting down the cup of coffee. “I can finally sleep.” he whispered, eyes glazing over as if he intended to do so at that exact moment.

“Akaashi-san!” shouted Hinata, sprinting to his friend's side to support him “You shouldn't go to sleep here, let's take you home!”

The boy nodded absentmindedly and they started heading towards his apartment. After dropping him off, Bokuto constantly fussing until Akaashi kicked him out, the boys lingered in the hallway, unsure of what to do next.

Bokuto's head suddenly whipped to the side and he looked Kuroo in the eye with a grin.

“Dude. I have an idea.” he declared, proudly puffing out his chest.

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” asked his friend, smiling.

“I'm pretty sure I am,” he responded, elbowing the black-haired teen in the ribs and smirking excitedly.

“Let's say it together on three.”

“One,” Bokuto giggled.

“ _Two,_ ”

“KARAOKE!” they both yelled at the same time, startling Kenma and making him drop his phone with a curse.

Screeching, Hinata managed to utter a 'yes', excitedly bouncing on the spot. The blonde by his side shook his head disbelievingly, trying to seem aloof, but his image was ruined by the smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He pocketed his phone, the gesture confirming Kuroo's suspicions that his friend was, in fact, enthusiastic about the idea of participating in a loud ~~and, let’s face it, probably tuneless~~ activity.

About an hour later, Kenma was severely regretting his decision to hang out with the three, though mostly Bokuto and Kuroo, since Shouyou had been unusually quiet since they'd entered the karaoke booth.

“ **Tell me why!** ” yelled Kuroo, eyes shut in concentration, fist closed and pressed emotionally against his chest.

“ _Ain't nothing but a heartbreak,_ ”whined Bokuto, horribly off-tune, but incredibly full of sadness.

Kenma tuned out the two boys- could that be called singing?- and glanced at Hinata, who seemed horribly conflicted about something, his eyebrows lifting and drawing together repeatedly in the span of a couple of seconds. His eyes darted to meet Kozume's, who suddenly forgot how to breathe. How does one inhale?

-*-

_Should I ask him?_ thought Hinata, absentmindedly staring at the two boys, who were singing surprisingly well. _But what **would** we sing? Gaaaaah!_ he internally screamed, unknowingly frowning and glancing at the boy next to him, being startled out of his reverie by the unexpected eye contact.

“Wanna sing?” he asked before he could think it through.

_Shit,_ he mentally cussed as he saw the other boy's surprised expression. _Shit shit **shit** , you scared him! You're coming on too strong, what are you doing? Quick, just say that you were kidding,_

Hinata opened his mouth to do so, but he was stopped by Kenma nodding slightly.

“Yeah, sure. What do you want to sing?”

An idea suddenly struck the boy as he glimpsed his friend's blonde strands glinting under the dim lights. Who else had blonde hair? _Elsa._

“Let's sing 'Let it go',” he proposed, thinking how proud Natsu would be of his choice in songs.

With some difficulty Kenma managed to muffle a laugh, trying to mask it with a cough and not fully succeeding. A bit of Hinata's excitement dimmed as he noticed it.

“Sure,” agreed the blonde after he finished ~~laughing~~ clearing his throat.

“What are you guys singing?” asked Kuroo from where he was hunched over the computer, fingers hovering above its screen.

“Let it go!” called Hinata from across the room.

“What do you want me to let go?” inquired the boy, slightly taken aback by the sudden hostility.

“No,” laughed the orange-haired boy, “we're singing 'Let it go'!”

Kuroo snorted and typed in the title and the intro music started playing. The two boys stepped on the low podium, Kenma slightly swaying, palms sweating even as he wiped them repeatedly on the sides of his pants.

“Can't do it,” breathed Kenma as he found himself on the stage, heart hammering.

Hinata turned toward him and Kenma could have sworn that the orange in his hair dimmed as they made eye contact.

“Oh. OK,” he replied, visibly disappointed. “No problem.”

Guilt ate away at the blonde's gut, but the anxiety already gnawing on him was far stronger than remorse, his breath already becoming shallower and faster.

He stepped off the low podium and, finally inhaling normally, handed the mic to Bokuto, whose supplies of energy seemed nowhere near exhausted as he jumped up and joined Hinata on the stage. They had a short conversation, then they started the song again.

The two started to sing, prancing around in what appeared to be a whole choreography. They concluded the song with Bokuto dramatically throwing Hinata, the boy rolling on the floor and landing in a crouching position, terribly disheveled but apparently unscathed.

Kuroo enthusiastically applauded, but Kenma was still too seized by guilt to order his hands to move. The orange-haired boy, however, didn't seem bothered by it, skipping towards the blonde and sitting down next to him, swinging his legs like a toddler.

“Sorry,” murmured Kenma, his focus on his companion's restless feet.

“It's OK. If you're not comfortable doing it, you don't need to,” replied Hinata and their eyes met, Shouyou's expression serious and unblinking, despite the childlike behavior of his swinging feet.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“What for?” inquired Hinata, his oblivious expression making Kenma all the more thankful.

However, he didn't realize that what he was feeling wasn't only gratitude, but something else too. Something that could change all their lives completely.


	14. don't worry, I have an idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just as the wise and beloved bros kuroo and bokuto would say: **hey hey hey!!!**
> 
> bonus chapter!!!! tell me what you think about it!!! still updating on Monday (*꧆▽꧆*)

“Guys!” shouted Hinata, barging into Karasuno cafe with his helmet still on, holding a flyer. “Look what I found!”

“What's that?” asked Yachi, taking the paper from him and reading it. “'Shiratorizawa Fun Park, grand opening this weekend'. Is this the park that everyone in town's been talking about?”

“Yeah,” replied Shouyou, nodding excitedly. He still hadn't remembered to take off his helmet and it was loose on his head, moving from side to side as he bounced on the spot with restless energy.

“Do you want to go?” asked the girl, struck by an idea that would've made Noya proud, had he come early that day. “We could go with Kuroo-san and his friends.”

“Sure,” said Hinata. He tried to lean on the counter coolly, but missed it by an inch and stumbled.

Yachi covered a smile with the back of her hand.

“Hinata, your helmet's still on,” she told him, handing him the flyer and turning back to the counter she'd been wiping when Hinata had shown up.

-*-

“Ooh!” exclaimed Shouyou as they neared the fun park. “It's huge!”

“Anything is huge for you,” replied Tsukishima, making Kuroo titter.

Hinata kept walking, kicking the salty blonde as he passed him and earning a curse. He turned as he heard a loud shout, and he saw Tanaka and Noya sprinting towards him. They grabbed him by the shoulders and, running, dragged him with them a bit further off. They propped him up and then let go, stepping away from him and staring deep into his eyes, unblinking.

“Hinata,” started Noya.

“You need to go with Kozume-san through the Tunnel of Love,” continued Tanaka.

Hinata blinked, confused.

“Why should I go with him through the Tunnel of Love?” he asked, completely oblivious.

Wincing and shutting his eyes, Noya dramatically pressed his hand against his chest and collapsed in Tanaka's arms, who petted his hair comfortingly.

“I know, I know,” he soothingly murmured as Nishinoya wailed in his arms.

“What's happening?” whined Hinata, frustrated.

“Forget we mentioned it, dear kohai. You need to figure it out yourself,” sighed Tanaka, walking away while supporting Noya, who was still sobbing.

“But you could just tell me!” called Hinata, but his upperclassman didn't reply, instead just waving at him as he kept walking.

“If they go on like this, they'll never go out,” lamented Noya, finally walking on his own two legs.

“Don't worry, I have an idea,” stated Tanaka, proudly grinning and causing his friend to come back to his normal state.

“Ooh, whatcha gonna do?” asked the ~~short~~ boy, bouncing on the spot in excitement.

Bending down, Ryuunosuke conspiratorially whispered his plan.

“That's a _really_ good idea!” exclaimed Nishinoya, smiling.

“I know, right?”

-*-

The idea was an utter and total failure. At least, what they'd planned was, since it didn't go **at all** according to plan.

First of all, what they'd thought was 'The Tunnel of Love” was, in fact, a horror ride.

Secondly, Hinata was scared out of his wits by ghosts, zombies, monsters, or any kind of supernatural beings. Yes, even pixies. He'd once screamed and almost wet himself when seeing Noya with his hair down in the dark, thinking that it was a spirit.

Shouyou couldn't remember when he'd grabbed Kenma's hand, but he squeezed it in fright, his eyes refusing to close even as he ordered them to. The same ~~phantom~~ puppet that had scared him three times already popped up once again, making him scream and causing the blonde next to him to flinch.

By the end of the ride the two were pressed against each other, too frightened to be embarrassed by their closeness. Hinata glimpsed sunlight and cheered, almost crying in happiness.

They noticed the rest of their group standing near the entrance, hunched over something. The two stumbled out of the carriage and made their way to their friends, slightly swaying.

“Whatcha doing, guys?” asked Hinata as they neared them and he could hear Kuroo's snickers.

Laughing, they handed him a picture of him and Kenma hugging each other, screaming. Shouyou peered at it and his eyes widened. He heard a sharp intake of breath from over his shoulder and he turned his head to see Kenma glancing over his shoulder at the photo, smiling.

Golden eyes shifted to meet brown ones and Hinata's cheeks heated instantly.

They maintained the stare for what seemed an eternity, unable to look away, but a shout caused the eye contact to be broken, Kenma turning to face and shout at a grinning Kuroo.

Smiling, Hinata pocketed the picture and joined his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost have all of the chapters finished!


	15. look what I found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> probably gonna update tomorrow too  
> ヾ(＾-＾)ノヾ(＾-＾)ノ

Kenma's phone buzzed and the boy reached for it from the desk chair upon which he was precariously perched. He tapped the envelope icon and saw that the message was from Hinata.

_Kenma!!! come downstairs i wanna show you something!!_

_He's downstairs?_ realized Kenma with a start.

He stood up, but did so too quickly and remained rooted to the spot for a couple of moments, overcome by dizziness. When he finally recovered, he grabbed the nearest hoodie, threw it on, and was out the door in a matter of seconds.

Kenma paused for a few moments before going out, waiting to catch his breath so he didn't seem too excited, then opened the door and looked around for Hinata. He noticed him at the edge of the apartment complex, crouching next to something.

“Shouyou,” called Kenma when he reached the boy.

The orange-haired teen's head turned and he noticed him, breaking into a smile.

“Kenma!” he greeted. He stood up and stepped to the side. “Look what I found!” he gestured to the 'something' that the blonde hadn't been able to glimpse before. 

It was a cat. A light-brown cat with white ears, which seemed very satisfied with itself as it munched on-

“What is she chewing?” asked Kenma, crouching next to the small feline, careful not to touch it as it was eating.

“She's- wait, **what is she eating where did she get that**?” exclaimed Hinata, crouching next to the small animal. With one hand he grabbed it by the nape and with the other he tugged at what it was holding.

“Eww, it's a sock!” whined Shouyou, throwing the small material away at the nearest bin. “Where'd you get that, cutie-pie?” he asked, crouching again next to the cat and petting it.

Kenma's expression warmed significantly as he beheld his companion's soft smile.

“What will you do with it, er, her?”

“Huh?” Hinata looked at him, apparently confused. Realization dawned on him and his expression changed instantly, making Kenma feel guilty about being the cause of that shift. “What _will_ I do with her? Oh no, am I even allowed with pets in the building?” he questioned, tugging at his hair nervously.

The cat mewed and climbed into Shouyou's lap. The boy started smiling once again and he caressed the small feline's soft fur.

“I don't think that your roommate will mind her, but I can keep her for a while if you want me to,” offered Kenma, eager to have an excuse to invite Hinata over.

All of the fear from Shouyou's expression drained away.

“Really? You would?” he asked, his eyes shining with gratitude that made Kenma both extremely glad that he'd offered it and slightly guilty of his somewhat selfish intentions. “It won't be long, just till I talk with the landlord.”

“Yeah, don't worry,” the blonde assured him, already attached to the small feline. He petted its beige fur and smiled. “She looks like a latte,” he noticed.

Hinata laughed, the sound making Kenma smile.

“Yeah, she really does!” his eyes widened and he looked at the blonde, grinning. “That's a great name for her! Latte!” he exclaimed, cradling the cat and giggling as it purred.

Kenma's smile faded as he realized something.

“What if she's lost? Should we take her to a vet to check for a chip?” he asked, dissatisfied that he had to be the cause of Hinata's smile vanishing.

“I already took her,” said Shouyou, instantly removing the burden from Kenma's shoulders. “she's a stray.”

“Not anymore,” murmured the blonde, scratching the top of Latte's head and making her purr.

Hinata looked at the blonde and smiled.

“Yeah. Not anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as usual, comments make me very happy so be sure to click that button!!!


	16. happy new year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bonus update!!! almost done with all the chapters; there'll probably be 20 in total, maybe 21 cause i am already nostalgic about finishing this fic and i can't bear to complete it ಥoಥ ಥoಥ

“Welcome, welcome!” greeted Tanaka as he opened the door, Noya hovering behind him with an excited smile.

“Happy New Year!” replied Hinata, grinning at the two.

Kageyama poked him from behind and he obeyed the gesture, entering the house. He was really glad Nishinoya and Tanaka had decided to host the party, since they were the only ones who didn't have an apartment, but a house.

“Has anyone else arrived?” asked Kageyama, sparing Hinata from questioning whether Kenma had shown up yet.

“Sugawara and Daichi, but they've been here since lunch. Dunno where they are though,” responded Noya, taking the bottle of champagne that Kageyama handed him and heading for the kitchen. “You guys want anything?” he called from there, head poked inside the fridge.

The doorbell rang and Hinata was instantly on his feet, darting for the door and opening it.

“Yachi-san!” he exclaimed, breaking into a smile and hugging the small girl, who blushed crimson, still not used to Hinata's easy-going attitude regarding human contact.

“H-happy New Year,” she stuttered when he let go of her.

He grinned at her and greeted Shimizu, who was lingering behind Yachi, holding a cake. The two entered and Kiyoko headed for the kitchen to put the cake in the fridge.

“Say, Hinata,” started Yachi, drawing Shouyou's attention from his dreams of eating the cake, “is Kozume-san here yet?”

“No, but he said he'll be here in ten minutes,” replied Hinata, gesturing to his phone, where a text chat was open.

The ten minutes passed dreadfully slowly for Hinata, especially since he repeatedly kept glancing at the clock on the wall or the time on his phone's screen.

When the doorbell finally rang, the orange-haired-boy was the first to reach the door. He opened it and grinned at the teens on the other side.

“Hey hey hey!” shouted Bokuto, putting his arm around Hinata's shoulders and smiling widely. The rest of the usual ensemble was there as well, Akaashi looking healthy for the first time since the exam season and Kuroo teasing an annoyed Kenma, whose face had turned a bright red.

“They're here!” called Shouyou to his friends, leading the four inside the home.

“Happy New Year!” sounded a shout from the kitchen, followed by a loud crash and muffled cursing.

Concerned, Hinata headed towards the source of the chaos and poked his head inside.

“You OK?” he asked, looking at Yachi, who seemed scared out of her wits. Nishinoya was attempting to balance multiple plates at once using a single hand.

“Yeah,” replied Tanaka, focusing on his best friend.

Deciding that they didn't need his help, Hinata headed back to the living room where Kuroo and Bokuto had taken control of the TV (and therefore the playlist). Akaashi was sitting on the couch, supervising the two and making sure they wouldn't play anything that would hurt innocent ears.

Hinata looked around for Kenma and noticed him seated on one of the bean bags, fiddling with his phone case and looking terribly uncomfortable.

“Watcha doing?” chirped Shouyou, plopping down next to the boy.

“Not much,” replied the blonde, eyes unfocused and mind probably elsewhere.

“How's Latte doing?” Hinata tried again, his usual cheer undiminished. “Who'd you leave her with?”

“With my neighbor. He's got two cats, so she'll be fine.”

“Got any pictures?” asked Shouyou, even though his friend had already sent him multiple photos.

Kenma flicked through his gallery until he found what he'd been looking for and showed his friend a picture of the beloved cat sitting on his laptop's keyboard.

“Cute!” smiled the sun-haired boy, leaning closer to his companion to get a better look at the screen.

_My arm is asleep but I don't want him to move,_ thought Kozume as Hinata moved nearer to him.

“Ten minutes till midnight!” called Daichi and Hinata started, standing up from the bean bag.

“You coming?” he asked, extending his hand to help him up.

“Sure,” he replied, taking his hand and standing up, even though he didn't really want to go to the crowded part of the living room. They headed towards the rest of the group and sat down on the couch to look at the countdown on the TV.

A sudden and slightly unwelcome thought suddenly crossed Hinata's mind.

_In the movies, don't they kiss on New Year's?_

He easily banished the thought, but Bokuto had bigger difficulties in doing the same thing. He kept glancing at Akaashi and away from him, back at him and away again.

The internal crisis was put to stop by a shout of “Ten seconds to midnight!”

Someone had given Hinata the champagne and tasked him with opening it on second zero. The boy was vibrating with excitement, the now eight seconds to the new year making him even more restless than usual.

_“Five!”_

Hinata fumbled with the muselet, determined to do his duty right.

_“Four!”_

Bokuto sighed and ran his hands through his hair, his usually self-assured demeanor completely cast aside.

_“Three!”_

Kenma decided what his New Year's resolution was.

_“Two!”_

Nishinoya's eyes widened as he realized his mistake in handing Hinata that bottle of champagne.

_“One!”_

Sugawara started crying.

Two things happened simultaneously on second 0.

One of them was Bokuto chickening out of his decision, but being suddenly grabbed by the collar by Akaashi, who smiled and kissed him. The owlish teen blushed fiercely and managed to mumble a 'happy new year'.

The other was Nishinoya lunging for the bottle in Hinata's hands exactly as the boy opened it, the cork flying directly towards the back of Kageyama's neck. The teen turned to look at Hinata and the murderous look in his eyes made the boy whimper and smile sheepishly, murmuring 'happy new year'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE SHIP HAS SAILED AHAAHAHA  
> //  
> i'm watching haikyuu with my smaller sis and she keeps saying that hinata looks like an almond  
> //  
> comments please you can hear the metaphorical crickets in my inbox lmao


	17. “Huh?” Hinata eloquently replied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter but maybe i'll update once more this week??  
> //  
> oh no break's over   
> bye bye sleep and reading fanfic at 3 AM

Hinata was out with Nishinoya and Tanaka when his phone rang. When he noticed the caller ID, he quickly apologized to his friends and stepped a bit to the side to answer.

“Hi Kenma!” he greeted, a smile gracing his features without realizing it.

“Shouyou I don't know what's going on. She keeps throwing up… what do I do-” sounded the boy on the other side of the line, despair obvious in his voice.

Shouyou's smile instantly vanished and he stepped a bit further from his curious friends, who were not-so-subtly trying to eavesdrop on his conversation.

“Wait, Kenma, calm down first,” he calmly said, unusually cool compared to his regular energy. Hinata waited for his friend's breathing rate to slow before continuing. “Tell me what's wrong, _slowly_.”

“Latte threw up this morning and twice more in the last ten minutes. She's really lethargic too, I don't know what's happened,” Kozume said, clearly on the verge of sobbing.

A shard of ice-cold fear pierced something in Hinata's chest. He was at a loss of words and remained silent for a few moments.

“I'll be there in ten,” he stated, finally able to speak.

Kenma mumbled an “OK” and Shouyou hung up. He stared at the ground for a couple of seconds until he was able to order his feet to move.

“I've gotta go. I'll see you later, guys!” he told Tanaka and Noya, mustering a smile to avoid answering any uncomfortable questions.

The boys nodded and waved at him, already distracted by a flashy display in the showcase, elbowing each other in attempts to convince the other to buy the products.

-*-

“Your cat's pregnant,” stated the vet, warmly smiling at the two and petting the small feline, who appeared to feel much better after the doctor's check-up.

“Huh?” Hinata eloquently replied, shocked by the discovery. Kenma was frozen by his side, eyes wide in surprise as well. 

The orange-haired-boy finally recovered and broke into a grin.

“That's so cute!” exclaimed Shouyou, stopping himself before he could say _Kenma, we're gonna have babies!_ , thank God. His cheeks heated in embarrassment at the thought.

The doctor gave them a list of what they should be careful of and how they should take care of the pet and the two boys exited the building, Hinata holding Latte in his arms, the cat content with how carefully she was being treated.

When they reached the blonde's apartment, awkwardness suddenly filled Shouyou.

 _Why am I feeling weird? I've been to his apartment before, nothing's changed! Goddammit, dumbass! Snap out of it, you're making Kenma uncomfortable with your fidgeting,_ yelled Hinata internally .

Kozume fumbled for his keys, dropping them as he tried to unlock the door. Mentally cursing, he managed to finally open it. They entered and lingered in the living room for a few moments, until Kenma, unable to withstand his companion's sudden stillness, broke the uncomfortable silence.

“Want to play Breath of the Wild?” he offered, knowing that it would surely disperse the cloud of tension hovering above the two of them.

Shouyou enthusiastically nodded, his constant bouncing finally resuming. They sat down in front of the TV in Kenma's room, the blonde turning on the console and handing his guest the remote. After a few minutes of playing and startled screams from the orange-haired boy as he saw various monsters, Hinata handed Kozume the controller, saying that the Lizalfos are scaring him and he'd rather watch.

 _Playing with Shouyou is very different to how I usually play,_ mused Kenma as he realized that they'd mostly been exploring and taming horses and dogs instead of taking his usual aggressive approach to the game, attacking all the monsters he encountered and rapidly solving all the quests he got.

“Dragon!” exclaimed Hinata, startling Kenma out of his trance. Indeed, there was the blue dragon flying above the snowy mountaintops. “Let's tame it!”

“I don't think we can,” replied Kozume while he glided towards the giant reptile. “But I'll try.”

He didn't succeed, but Shouyou's presence next to him was reward enough for Kenma.


	18. will you be my valentine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually wrote this two days before valentine's and was planning to post it then; but then i got lazy and just updated regularly lol

Sticking out the corner of his tongue in concentration, Hinata leaned forward on the precariously placed ladder, stretching to tie a paper heart from the ceiling.

 _Why didn't they make someone taller do this job?_ collectively inquired the clients while they looked at the unstable structure the ~~short~~ boy was balancing upon.

A chime sounded and Shouyou instinctively turned his head towards the source of the sound, forgetting to hold on to the edge of the ladder and losing his balance. He fell back and hit the ground with a loud _thud_ , drawing his colleagues' attention to him.

Tsukishima loudly snickered, while Sugawara darted forward to help him up.

“You OK, Hinata? Be more careful next time,” said the boy, circling Shouyou and checking for any visible injuries.

“Yeah,” replied the fallen boy, a bit dazed. He shook his head fiercely and he instantly snapped back to normal, his smile coming back. “Yeah, I'm fine, I'll go retie it.”

Sugawara loudly smacked the nape of his neck, Hinata's head brusquely snapping forwards. He rubbed the back of his skull, dazed once again.

“Are you daft? What, do you want to fall again?” chided the silver-haired boy, gesturing to Kageyama to come forward and replace Shouyou in his task.

With great difficulty, Hinata swallowed his injured pride, not wanting to make a scene in front of the customers and draw Daichi's wrath out from where it was sleeping as Valentine's day was approaching. The orange-haired boy dragged his feet to the counter, where he started working on the orders his colleagues had taken while he was struggling with the damned paper decorations.

The bell jingled and Hinata turned to look at the door, noticing Bokuto and Akaashi entering, the former describing something with great intensity and a multitude of hand gestures. His golden eyes sparkled as he glimpsed his young disciple and he hastily headed for the counter to greet him.

“Hello, Bokuto-san, Akaashi-san. The usual?” inquired Shouyou with his usual smile.

“Yep,” replied the owlish teen, nodding. A thought seemed to suddenly strike him and his smile turned into a smirk. “Say, young apprentice, have you talked to Kenma lately?” he asked, leaning his elbow on the counter and conspiratorially bending forwards.

Akaashi savagely kicked him and Bokuto turned eyes full of hurt towards him, as if this wasn't a routine for the two.

 _Are we **really** going to repeat this?_ whispered the dark-haired boy, filled to the brim with exasperation, but also- was that amusement?

Koutarou sheepishly shook his head and slowly headed to their table, leaving Akaashi to tell the confused boy a quick 'see you later'.

-*-

Bokuto fidgeted.

And fidgeted.

And sat up and then leaned back down again.

And then adjusted his cup and laptop on the table.

Glanced at Hinata, who gave him a thumbs-up and an encouraging grin.

Took a deep breath.

Stood up and sat back down again, reaching for his cup and-

“Just spit it out, you're driving me crazy,” demanded Akaashi, closing his laptop and shifting his full attention to his companion, who turned pale and glanced at Hinata, the boy giving him an unsure smile and a subtle shrug.

“Wouldyouliketogooutwithme?” he blurted, undecided whether he wanted the boy across him to understand his words.

“We're already out together all the time,” replied Akaashi, who had probably already gotten used to his antics.

 _We're basically dating already,_ was what he didn't need to add.

“What I mean is,” started Bokuto, eyes darting for his disciple, who just gave him a 'hurry up and ask him out already' gesture. No help from there then. He started again. “What I mean is- will you be my Valentine?” he asked, the last part breathed out and almost whispered.

The black-haired boy inhaled sharply and bit his lip, its corners already quirking up into a smile. He cleared his throat, smoothing out his expression, only the excited glint in his eyes remaining.

“Sure,” he replied, attempting to appear cool, but his voice cracking on the word.

-*-

 _OK, I'm gonna do it,_ decided Kenma for the hundredth time that day. _If **Bokuto** can, it shouldn't be such a problem,_ he continued, not unkindly. He was well aware that he hadn't factored in Koutarou's easy-going and convivial nature.

However, when he glanced at Shouyou, his smile blinded Kenma once more and he again cowered in his seat, hiding behind his portable controller.

 _OK, I **am** going to do it,_ Kozume mentally stated once again as he found himself staring at Hinata's cheerful grin while the orange-haired boy signaled an 'OK' to Bokuto, who was looking awfully proud of himself and was smirking at his disciple. Shouyou turned his attention to the blonde and inquired what he was playing, smiling as brightly as always.

Kenma again ignored his decision, telling himself that he was merely postponing it, as he smiled back and showed Hinata the game on his portable's screen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooh the fic just reached 10K words!!! nice,,,  
> \--  
> if you comment i might actually survive until my finals next week  
> *shudders violently*, ugh french; ugh chem; ugh everything basically  
> ,,shit,,


	19. the three months until their move were almost over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i reread the whole thing and noticed that they were getting evicted in three weeks and then stuff happened over like 2-3 months, so if you've been here for a while, then the eviction notice was for 3 months, not 3 weeks

The three months until their move were almost complete when the front door of Karasuno Cafe slammed open and Ukai barged in, proudly stating that he'd found a new location for the cafe. Expressions ranged from enthusiastic, to confused and to poorly masked premature melancholy, but all of the teens cheered and crowded around their boss, who was smugly grinning, an unlit cigarette dangling from the edge of his mouth.

“How does it look?”

“Where is it?”

“Is it far?”

Ukai lifted a hand to pause the onslaught of questions and the boys fell silent, Shimizu and Yachi lingering in the back of the group, unsure of how to react, the blonde wearing a concerned smile.

“We're going tomorrow to visit it,” he stated, and that was it. He ushered the group to their respective placements in the cafe and the excitement subsided.

-*-

“Uwaaa, it's **huge**!” exclaimed Hinata, spinning on the spot, arms spread out and eyes lifted towards the ceiling.

“It only seems that tall because you're so short,” remarked Tsukishima from the other side of the room, grinning, even though he too was amazed with the height of the room.

Hinata's face scrunched up and it took both Sugawara and Tanaka to hold him back from sprinting to the blonde and showing him that he was tall enough to hit _a couple of things_.

“Guys, come see this!” called Nishinoya from what was going to be the kitchen.

Anger forgotten, Shouyou peeked his head through the doorway and glanced around for what he was supposed to see. His eyes widened as he glimpsed what his senpai was pointing at.

A fridge.

A fridge, _mind you_ , the size of a car.

“Why would we need a fridge this big?” inquired Kageyama over Hinata's incoherent babbling, the boy having rushed over to the fridge and hugged it.

“Don't mind him, Tina! He's just jealous that he doesn't get this much attention,” cooed the orange-haired boy, oblivious to Kageyama cracking his knuckles threateningly and inching towards him with a murderous expression on his face.

“Did he just name our fridge 'Tina'?” muttered Ennoshita. Suga shrugged, a resigned expression on his face.

Shouyou's phone started ringing and the boy stopped embracing the kitchen appliance to take the device out of his pocket and, pressing 'answer', bring it to his ear with a cheerful smile on his face.

“Hi, Kenma? What's up?” he greeted, not noticing Noya and Tanaka's indiscreet snickering in the background.

As he listened to what was being said on the other side of the line, Hinata stopped smiling for a second, then a grin even wider than before replaced his slight frown.

“Really? That's great! I'll meet you there!” he replied, hastily waving goodbye to his friends and darting out the door.

“They grow up so fast,” sighed Noya, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye.

“Look at him, riding off in the sunset like a knight in shining armor!” exclaimed Tanaka, leaning on the frame of the doorway and staring towards where Hinata had left, poetic wind blowing his ~~nonexistent~~ hair.

“He's got no horse,” remarked Tsukishima.

“He has a bike though,” countered Tanaka, not disrupted.

“It's noon.”

Shimizu grabbed Tanaka by the collar before he could lunge for the blonde.

-*-

“Shouyou, please sit down, you're making me nervous too. Your pacing won't affect how Latte gives birth in any way, ” requested Kenma, fiddling with his phone case.

“Huh?” asked Hinata, absentmindedly dragging a hand through his hair and blankly staring at the blonde.

Kenma patted the seat next to him and his friend complied, sitting down next to him. His leg bounced up and down.

Up and down.

Up and down.

Up and-

Kozume put a stop to the motion by placing his hand on the boy's knee.

Hinata became oddly still and his eyes glazed over weirdly.

The blonde could feel his cheeks heat up, but was saved from any kind of response by the vet opening the door and gesturing for the two to come inside.

“ _They're so cute,_ ” screeched Hinata, evidently trying to contain his enthusiasm by simply vibrating on the spot.

Kenma looked at the litter of latte-colored kittens and smiled. They were very cute indeed, and the mother was smugly sprawled between them, lazily cleaning one of her young's head. He involuntarily glanced at Shouyou and the expression he was wearing made the blonde smile even wider.

-*-

It was late that night when Hinata was hit by an idea, the answer to what had been bugging him the whole day, without mentioning it, not wanting to ruin his friend's delight. Grinning widely, he grabbed his phone and opened the message app.

_Kenma!!! cat cafe!!!! we can do a cat cafe!!!!!_ he typed in, making sure to add in some excited emojis for good measure.

_That's a good idea, Shouyou. You should ask your boss first though,_ came the response.

The prospect of being refused this _absolutely brilliant idea_ seemed utterly impossible to Hinata, so his grin didn't dim in the least as he typed back:

_OK!!!!.+:｡(･ω･)bﾟ.+:_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!next week is my finals week, so imma update this weekend once more but will not update next week!!! i will *try* to temporarily swear off ao3, but im addicted to this website so i'll probably still be replying to comments and stuff


	20. already moving out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as promised, here is a bonus update to make up for next week's lack of activity  
> this chapter is my pride and joy, so don't forget to tell me in the comments section what you thought of it!

It took Hinata much pestering (and Takeda-sensei’s support) to convince Ukai that having a cat cafe was, in fact, a great idea. A meaningful incline of the head from the teacher was enough for the thug-like blonde to succumb to Shouyou’s badgering and give the boy his permission for the kittens and their mother to be brought over as soon as the cafe was ready for them. 

That came much sooner than expected. After only a couple of days, the Karasuno employees were already moving the last of the appliances from their old location. Hinata was even more of his usual cheery self when he noticed that Kenma and the ever-grinning Kuroo had shown up to help them move, his happiness further increasing when Bokuto and Akaashi joined them a bit later in the day to assist them in their location change.

The sun was soon setting and the orange rays reflected on the slightly scratched (but strangely well-kept) floor, the surface shiny and eerily empty. 

Hinata stood in the doorway, staring at the empty space which held so many fond memories. Making his first successful latte, getting beaten up by his best friend repeatedly, meeting Kenma and befriending so many nice people.

 _So many things, all gone,_ he mused, a sad attempt at a smile poorly covering up his dejection. 

His eyes wandered over the empty room, catching on different spots on the walls where various employees had thrown fragile objects at each other or fought without the aid of various objects, drawing Daichi’s dreaded wrath. Hinata’s irises stopped darting around when he finally felt Kenma’s gaze on him. How long had he been staring for? How long had he been stared at for?

Brown orbs shifted to meet golden ones and Hinata felt himself stop breathing. He hadn’t realized how close they were standing; when he tried inhaling, his breath caught and -luckily (or not, he hadn’t decided yet)- Kenma interpreted it wrongly.

“Don’t worry, Shouyou. It’s just like you said: It will always be Karasuno Cafe as long as the employees and the regulars remain,” he murmured, staring deep into his friend’s eyes in an attempt to comfort him but only managing to make the boy even more fidgety at the sudden unwavering attention. Especially from him.

They were so distracted by each other that they didn’t even hear the rest of the group giggling and muttering in the background, discreetly trying to give them some privacy.

“Ohmygod, you remember that,” breathed Hinata, his now red face covered by his palms as he shook his head, embarrassed.

However, Kenma was past getting shy and postponing his decision. This was the day he would confess; no matter the response, it would mean taking one more step towards his New Year’s resolution.

He would not be afraid anymore.

Of course, he really wished that Hinata wouldn’t reject him, but if he overthought it, he would surely chicken out. He cleared his throat and mustered all of his courage, not willing to be a coward anymore.

“Yeah, I remember it. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you, Shouyou,” he declared, subtly wiping his sweaty palms on the side of his jeans. This was more nerve-wrecking than he’d hoped. It was just as scary as he’d thought, though.

“Why?” 

The word appeared to escape Hinata before the boy could think better of it, just as Kozume had ~~hoped~~ predicted. This was the last chance to back out. 

_Because you’re my friend,_ Kenma almost blurted, but although it was true, he’d promised himself that he wouldn’t back out again.

He took a deep breath and found that he was oddly calm, all of the energy appearing to drain through his legs into the ground, leaving him full of lethargy and an odd buzzing in his ears, like cotton stuck there and isolating him from the outside world and the person in front of him.

He could hear his own pulse.

“‘Cause I like you,” he replied. Even though he could have sworn that he had whispered it, the words seemed strangely loud in the still silence of the empty cafe.

No way to go back now.

“Wait, what?” asked Hinata, his face a mixture of disbelief and utter confusion, a combination that Kenma had never seen before and never wanted to see again. **Ever** again.

Before he could think better of it or order his body to wait for the actual reply, Kozume was sprinting out of the door and not looking back. He should have looked back though- he later mused back at home in the safety of his dark apartment as some of the hurt was replaced by curiosity and, maybe, hope. It was all quickly engulfed once again by regret though.

If he’d thrown at least one glance over his shoulder, he would have seen Hinata’s expression shift into something different, that Kenma would’ve liked to see; he would’ve seen the boy stretch out his hand in an attempt to stop him from running away, for once too surprised to move fast enough.

But Kenma did not look over his shoulder, so he saw none of this.


	21. the phone had been vibrating for a while now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally an update, pls tell me what u thought about it and maybe the last chapter too

Kenma’s eyes felt crusty with sleep as he blinked blearily at the screen, the image of the gameboy refusing to focus. He sighed and hugged the thick blankets tighter around him, absentmindedly glancing at the group of kittens asleep in his bed. Looking back at the screen, he pointedly ignored once again the buzz of the phone. It had been vibrating for a while now. He had no idea who it was and he didn’t really care, he told himself.

_Whatever, it’ll run out of battery sometime; soon, hopefully._

The image of the display blurred once again and he put the console down, sleepily rubbing at his eyes. He had no idea what day it was and his emergency reserves of apple pie had run out some time ago. When the phone started chiming he gave up on ignoring it and shrugged off the blankets. Bare feet padding on the carpeted floor, he slowly headed for the desk, where he remembered he’d left his phone what felt like an eternity ago, when he’d gotten home after-

After-

The impatient buzz of the phone startled him out of his thoughts and for once he was happy for the incessant noise. Kuroo had messaged him _a lot_ , the latest one being a simple ‘I'm coming over’.

Hinata had sent him multiple texts too.

Before he could bring himself to open the text chat, Kenma noisily dropped the phone back on the desk (not bothering to reply to Kuroo’s message) and dragged his feet back towards his bundle of blankets, where he slumped down and grabbed the gameboy from where he’d left it. A familiar icon flashed across the monitor and his face scrunched up as he noticed the “Breath of the Wild” colourful square on the screen, tempting him to enter the game and then wallow in self-pity even more than before.

This time it was Kuroo who saved him from being caught in the undertow of an even worse wave of dejection. The black-haired boy barged in, slamming the door against the wall and letting it close on its own as he walked to the window and threw the curtains open. Sudden intense light flooded the room, momentarily blinding Kenma. He hissed at the sun, face scrunched up like a grumpy cat’s. Kuroo’s eyes softened with concern for a second, then they were stern once again, any hint of pity gone, as if it had never existed.

“You’ve been cooped up for four days already,” the boy stated, watching the blonde’s face for any kind of reaction.

_**Four days**? It’s been that long?_

The sun shone behind Kuroo, orange light illuminating the edges of his hair eerily. Kenma’s stomach knotted up and suddenly it was hard to breathe at the sight of the warm rays reflecting on the windowpane.

Kuroo extended a hand towards the boy and Kozume blankly stared at it.

“It’s time to get out,” stated Kuroo, glancing suggestively at his outstretched hand, obviously intending to drag his best friend out of the room if necessary.

It was evident to Kenma that Kuroo wasn’t referring only to getting out of the room, but he’d talk to his friend later about that. For now, he took his hand, dropping his small nest of blankets on the floor; leaving them behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god i love a good dramatic ending to a chapter


	22. the sun was shining painfully warm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is full of obvious and not-so-obvious symbolism and i'm so proud of it

It had only been half an hour and Kenma already regretted letting Kuroo drag him out. The sun was painfully warm, the rays burning the nape of his neck and forcing him to squint his eyes when staring out of the shade he’d sometimes manage to hide in only to be once again pushed out of his comfort zone by his best friend, who dragged him around the park as if they hadn’t spent their whole childhoods there. 

Yaku and Lev had joined them at some point, though Kozume couldn’t for the life of him remember when. They’d just popped up at some point, the tallest of the two grinning devilishly and, when he appeared to try to say something, earning a kick in the shin from his companion.

Kenma was starting to get suspicious.

And it turned out to be rightly so, since not even five minutes passed and he noticed a familiar orange head in the crowd around the shooting booths, bouncing excitedly on the spot.

His first impulse was to smile affectionately; the second was to run away as fast as possible. However, he only had time to carry out the former before Nishinoya noticed Yaku. He darted over to them to greet him enthusiastically, Hinata trailing his senpai and leaving Kageyama behind to carry out a staring contest with a small kid who looked dreadfully close to tears.

Hinata stopped in front of him; probably involuntarily, judging by all the fidgeting and his glances towards Lev, as if the guy would take the hint and come save him from the awkwardness. But the silver-haired boy did not come over, for once apparently not oblivious to what was going on around him, giving Kenma a subtle thumbs-up and an encouraging grin when Shouyou wasn’t looking.

There was only so much fidgeting Kozume could take, so he quickly gave in to the social convention of greeting someone you know.

It turned out that they had thought of the same thing at the same time since they both opened their mouths simultaneously and promptly shut them as they noticed each other’s mirroring actions.

Hinata motioned for the blonde to go first.

“You don’t need to give me an answer now. I don’t want to make it weird between us,” murmured Kenma, eyes downcast and suddenly even more uncomfortable than before.

He heard a suppressed snicker behind him and he could tell that Kuroo was thinking the same thing as him:

_You’ve just come out of your home after a four-day mope-fest. A bit late for that, isn’t it?_

Hinata seemed relieved and he gradually regained his usual cheer, the weight on his shoulders- that Kenma hadn’t even noticed was there and instantly felt guilty for- suddenly gone. His eyes sparkled and his hair seemed to shine even brighter than before in the midday sun, which didn’t even seem that unbearingly warm to Kenma anymore as he beheld Hinata’s smile when the boy turned around to laugh at Kageyama, who had managed to make his staring-contest partner cry.

_This doesn’t count as cowardice, does it?_

Suddenly Shouyou was grabbing his hand and they were running towards the cotton candy stall, the shorter teen shouting something at his best friend, who yelled an angry response as he tried to calm down the bawling child and only managing to make him cry harder. The smile that Hinata was wearing made all of Kenma’s doubts evaporate under the afternoon sun.

 _No, of course not,_ he mentally answered his unspoken question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kageyama is a disaster the poor baby


	23. you'll have fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to all those who comment, you truly brighten up my day!!!

“No,” Kenma decisively stated for the umpeenth time.

Kuroo’s eyebrows rose further as if he didn’t— or wouldn’t — comprehend the answer.

“No!”

He grinned and Kenma understood then that, contrary to appearances, he’d already lost the argument. He let himself slump back onto the bed; his face hit the pillow with a ‘thump’ as he let out a muffled groan at the same time Kuroo chuckled.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fun,” promised the black-haired fiend, and Kenma could hear the grin in his voice. “A full week with your beloved Shouyou and his colleagues, _plus_ me, Bokuto and Akaashi up in the mountains! Skiing, sleighing,” he leans forward and lowers his voice conspiratorially, his warm breath tickling Kenma’s ear, “romantic walks under the starlit sky.”

Even though an excited smile had already lit his face where it was hidden, Kozume let out another groan just to make his point. Kuroo only laughed and poked him in the side. The blonde glanced at his friend, slightly smiling.

“You’ll have fun,” he repeated, grinning as though he intended to make sure of it.

-*-

“Uwaah! Look, the mountains!” exclaimed Hinata, grinning excitedly and earning a smack from Kageyama, who was sitting on his left.

“Dumbass, these are just hills! We’re not at the mountains yet!” he angrily whisper-yelled, but with Tobio being Tobio, it was really just yelling.

Hinata huffed, slightly offended, and stuck out his tongue at Kageyama; then he turned his body to the right, facing Kozume before his friend could muster any kind of retort.

“You excited, Kenma?” he asked, his eyes intense and unblinking. It was impossible for the blonde to look away and he wasn’t sure that he actually wanted to. It took him a couple of moments to remember that he was actually supposed to answer and not only stare dreamily into Shouyou’s eyes.

“Yeah,” he answered, trying to seem aloof, but the image was ruined by Kuroo snickering from next to him. Kenma elbowed him hard and smiled at Hinata before the boy could read too much into it.

“Guys?” called Nishinoya from one of the seats in the front part of the bus, turning around to face them. “Wasn’t there supposed to be at least _some_ snow by now?”

Hinata stilled completely next to Kenma; then abruptly stood up, accidentally hitting Kageyama in the chin with his elbow and earning a punch in the gut as repayment. After a brief exchange of blows between the two, he stood up straight once again and glanced out the window. There was no snow in sight.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of other things to do there,” Sugawara assured them, palms lifted in what was probably intended to be an appeasing gesture. The teens visibly calmed, but the disappointment was still heavy in the air (but it could also be only Tanaka and Noya’s snacks, they smelled _horrible_ ).

However, the mood was completely lifted as soon as they reached the hotel. Immediately after getting out of the bus, the teens were once again energic, milling about with excited grins.

Hinata grinned at Nishinoya and the boy mirrored him. He had somehow gotten Tanaka to give him a piggyback ride, the two running towards a terrified Asahi, who seemed to be debating between running behind Daichi or into the hotel. He opted for the former; the two bros received a stern talking-to from their angry but somewhat amused senpai. 

_This will be fun,_ mused Kenma as he beheld the enthusiastic group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "he stood up straight once again and glanced out the window. There was no snow in sight." pffft as 'straight' as he can lmao  
>  ~~i'm so sorry guys~~


	24. ooooh, a horse!

After getting their bags to their respective rooms, the group met up again in the courtyard and decided to head for a walk across the area so they could get an idea of the layout. 

A few minutes after setting off, Hinata had already managed to find something to gush over.

“Ooooh, a horse!” he exclaimed and set off to pet the horse, almost crying with happiness when the horse accepted the apple he had offered.

“Oi, dumbass, we’ll leave you behind!” yelled Kageyama, the group having walked a bit further; Nishinoya and Tanaka already were small specks in the distance as they raced to prove their manliness to Shimizu, who was chatting with Yachi and ignoring their shouting.

Hinata sidled up to Kenma, not bothering to run after his best friend this once. 

Kuroo subtly increased the length of his strides, muttering something about meeting up with Bokuto, who was a small distance ahead, talking to Akaashi with a multitude of onomatopoeia and exclamations. His boyfriend was smiling at him and nodding at him to go on whenever he paused speaking.

“You havin’ fun, Kenma?” he inquired, slightly tilting his head and peeking up at his friend from underneath unruly bangs of sunny hair. Kenma fought the sudden urge to test whether the strands were as soft as they appeared to be.

“Yeah,” he answered, glancing up ahead towards the rest of the group. Bokuto gave him a not-so subtle thumbs-up. Kenma glanced at Hinata and noticed that the boy was looking at their owlish friend too.

 _Weird. Is he trying to communicate with me or Shouyou?_

Unbeknownst to him, a few meters ahead, Kuroo was being shaken by silent laughs, gasping “They’re both **so dense** ” to Bokuto and Akaashi, the latter nodding sagely and the former grinning in agreement. 

Kenma’s inner monologue raged on and he thoroughly shook his head, not noticing the concerned glance Hinata threw his way as he did so. _Of **course** Bokuto was gesturing at me, why would he even-_

His train of thought was derailed as an excited shout erupted from next to him. Kenma looked at Hinata; the boy was shining with excitement, bouncing on the spot as he pointed to a spotted shape on the field.

“Ohmygod, is that a _cow_?” he shrieked, darting towards it.

It turned out that the cow did not want to be petted; as soon as Shouyou neared it, the animal stood up from where it was peacefully sprawled in the warm sunlight and slowly walked away. It plopped down a few meters further, lazily grazing.

Tsukishima snickered somewhere in the back of the group.

“Let _me_ try,” smugly murmured Kageyama, pushing aside Hinata and walking towards the bovine, hand outstretched. This time it did not stand up, letting the boy approach and even pet it.

As he caressed the soft fur, Kageyama turned his head and gave Hinata a ~~scary~~ smug smile. Hinata pouted and crossed his arms; Kenma almost giggled at the cuteness of the image, but stopped himself before he did so. Shouyou was probably trying to seem menacing.

“She only let you pet her ‘cause you drink enough milk that you’re basically one of them…” he muttered.

Kageyama’s head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes.

“What did you say?” he asked, the question turning into a yell halfway; he abruptly stood up and darted towards his friend, who screamed and bolted.

Daichi managed to separate the two soon enough, shaking them thoroughly before dropping them back to the ground and ordering them to stand at opposite ends of the group. They scowled and obeyed, not before fiercely poking each other’s sides one more time.

The next few minutes were peaceful enough, Kenma managing to hold a proper conversation with Hinata without getting flustered and taking out his phone or darting away like he used to do in the cafe.

“You don’t have _any_ siblings?” asked Hinata, face morphed into an incredulous expression.

Kenma shook his head.

“I-” he puffed out his chest, full of pride “-have a little sister,” declared Hinata and he pulled out his phone, scrolling down to show Kozume a picture of Shouyou and a younger, female, version of himself, both grinning proudly, covered in flour and holding a tray of horribly misshapen cookies. “Her name’s Natsu and she’s the **most** awesome little sister in the whole world!”

“I’m sure she is,” sincerely replied Kenma, smiling at his friend’s obvious pride regarding his smaller sister.

Hinata opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a shout.

 _No, not a shout,_ mused Kenma, _more like a… hoot?_

And, sure enough, there was Bokuto, hooting happily in front of a tree.

Hinata and Kozume quickened their steps and soon glimpsed what had gotten Bokuto so wound up. 

“Is that-” started Hinata, confused for a second.

“- an owl? Seems so,” finished Kenma, neck craned up to look at the bird up in the tree.

A sense of foreboding hit Akaashi as he was talking with Sugawara; he turned to check what Bokuto was doing. He cursed under his breath before starting to rapidly walk towards his boyfriend.

“Oh, he’s _doomed_ ,” sing-songed Kuroo, grinning as he looked at the approaching brunette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akaashi's got very good boyfriend instincts haha


	25. oh my God, Bokuto, you can't tame an owl!

“Oh my god, Bokuto you can’t tame an owl! _Bokuto_ , it’s a wild animal, **for the love of God get away from it**!” yelled someone behind the excited teen, but he ignored them and kept his eyes fixed on the bird above him.

“Bokuto,” sounded next to him, a calm voice he recognized all too well; he started. He glanced to his left and met Akaashi’s eye. He began to back away from the tree but his boyfriend(!!!) stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Be careful it doesn’t peck your eyes out. We’ll bring it some food later if you want.” he said, smiling at the way Bokuto instantly perked up.

“I’ll try too!” stated Hinata and started inching towards the tree before he was pulled back by Kageyama by the nape of his neck.

“Don’t you dare, dumbass!” he shouted while shaking the stunned boy. “Don’t you remember what happened with the eagle last time?”

Hinata shuddered and stepped away from the owl.

“What happened with Hinata and the eagle?” Yachi asked Shimizu, hand cupped next to her mouth in an attempt to be subtle.

The group collectively shuddered and the girl got no answer; she didn’t repeat the question either.

The hotel was very close to the tree Bokuto had found the owl in, so Koutarou spent the rest of the day walking from the building to the tree and back, trying to find an offering that the owl would accept; Hinata trailed him the whole time, maintaining a healthy distance from the bird even though it did not move while it was being hooted at. 

Only when twilight came around, the owl squinted open an eye, then the other. It looked down at them, appearing profoundly confused. Bokuto hooted at it.

A confused blink.

Then it hooted back.

“Akaaaaaaashi didja see that?” he bellowed, darting for the doors to the hotel.

Hinata suspiciously narrowed his eyes at the bird. It mirrored his expression, clicking its beak. Gulping, Shouyou made his way back to the hotel, careful not to turn his back on the ~~vicious beast~~ bird.

A sudden flap of wings, a ‘squawk’, and he was screaming bloody murder.

“Ohmy **god guys _it’s on my head!_** he screeched, then stilled, hit by the idea that any sudden motions would provoke the bird into turning this into a repeat of the ‘eagle incident’.

Startled by the ruckus, the whole group came into the courtyard and looked at him.

“Tsukishima, stop taking pictures,” chided Sugawara, though he himself was itching to capture this moment. 

The owl was perched upon Hinata’s head, surveying all of them with an air of dominance that Yachi frankly felt intimidated by. 

Shouyou started as he heard a sudden sound next to him. He turned to see Kenma covering his mouth in an attempt to stifle his chuckles; the blonde smiled at him and Hinata grinned back. 

The bird wasn’t quite so scary anymore.


	26. Bakageyama, your marshmallow's burning!

It took a couple of hours, but they managed to put a stop to Bokuto’s ‘dejected mode’ after he witnessed the raw betrayal of _an owl_ sitting on _someone **else’s** head_. He was finally cheerful again, seated on one of the chairs around the campfire they had built and were roasting marshmallows around; he hooted at the trees, waited for a moment, and a hoot sounded back before the owl flew on a branch close to him.

He grinned, even happier than before, disappointment forgotten, and glanced at Akaashi to find that he was looking at him too. The brunette smiled and Bokuto grinned, moving his chair closer to Akaashi and somehow managing to get him to hold hands (He had no knowledge of how he did it, though. It might as well have been Akaashi who had initiated it.)

Kenma had only a vague idea of how he had ended up being seated next to Hinata, and it involved Kuroo and his surprising alliance with Daichi.

Hinata laughed and dodged a punch Kageyama had directed at him.

“Bakageyama, your marshmallow’s burning!” he announced, shifting the boy’s attention from him to the aflame snack.

Grinning, Shouyou turned to face Kenma and left his roommate to fuss over the ruined sweet and bemoan the difficulty of preparation compared to yogurt or cartons of milk.

“Say, Kenma, have I ever told you the story of when I tried to make Valentine’s chocolates with Natsu?” he asked, slightly hunched over as he roasted the marshmallow, eyes trained intently on it, unwilling to let it go down in flames. Literally.

Kenma’s stomach did an uncomfortable flip at the mention of Valentine’s chocolates, but he managed to murmur a ‘no’.

Hinata’s story of how he and Natsu had almost burnt down the house was cut short by a gesture from Sugawara, who motioned for the boy to come next to him for a moment. Excusing himself with a small wave, he obeyed and walked over to Sugawara, but was stopped from sitting down.

“Not here, let’s go a bit further,” his senpai murmured. “I don’t want to be overheard,” he said, and threw a meaningful glance at Tanaka and Noya, who were famous for their inability to keep their mouths shut.

They went a few meters away from the campfire and Sugawara crossed his arms, a disapproving expression on his face. Hinata had no idea what he had one wrong but he opened his mouth to apologize, his senpai’s gesture reminding him too much of his angry mother for his comfort; Sugawara lifted a hand to stop any oncoming apology.

“Hinata,” he started and the boy instantly straightened his spine. “What will you do?” he asked, a serious expression on his face.

“About what?”

“You don’t know what I’m talking about?” he inquired, eyebrows lifted in exasperation.

“No?” he replied, confused and looking his senpai straight in the eye.

Sugawara sighed and tiredly waved a hand.

“Never mind then,” he said, turning towards the campfire. “Let’s go back.”

As soon as the silver-haired boy’s back was turned, Hinata let his facade drop. He was well aware of what Sugawara had been referring to.

And he had no idea what the answer was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ehehehe


	27. Hinata let out a shrill whine, face beet red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh i almost forgot to update [nervous laughter]

Kenma had absolutely no idea how Shouyou had managed to find a murder of crows. In the middle of nowhere. They were now both seated on the damp ground, Hinata feeding the birds while the blonde watched him.

“Wanna try?” asked the orange-haired boy, smiling at Kenma and handing him the bag of bird seeds. Where had he gotten that from?

“Sure,” he replied, taking the packet from his friend and pouring some of its contents into his palm.

He extended his hand towards the birds and smiled as one of them hopped on his hand. It turned his head, watching him with one beady and unblinking eye; clicking its beak, it suddenly flapped his wings and let out a ‘squawk’, flying directly into Kenma’s face.

Stunned, he fell flat on his back. Hinata cursed silently and crouched next to him, waving his hand at the crow and making it fly off.

“You OK?” he asked, face above Kenma’s.

-*-

Hinata saw his friend’s eyes squint open and was once again startled by how golden they were.

Kenma let out a breathless laugh and Hinata could swear that his heart stuttered that moment.

And then skipped one more beat as they both realized how close they were.

Yelping, Shouyou scrambled back a few steps, allowing Kenma to sit up.

_Shit,_ he mentally cursed as he felt his face heat up.

_Oh, shit shit shit shit **shit**_.

“What’s wrong?” inquired Kozume, confused eyes staring straight at Hinata and causing him to feel like a deer caught in the headlights.

“I think I like you,” he blurted. 

But it was at the same time Daichi hollered at them to come inside to eat lunch.

“What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.”

Hinata let out a shrill whine, face beet red.

“Oi, moron Hinata, come eat or I’ll steal your food!” yelled Kageyama from inside the hotel.

If he was being honest, Hinata was relieved that he was being forced to face his revelation later. He grinned at the blonde and they both headed inside.

No one had to know yet that he returned Kenma’s feelings.

-*-

Sugawara and Asahi poked their heads out of the doorway at the same time the crow jumped on Kenma’s arm. 

“It’s jealous,” laughed Sugawara as he beheld the crow’s sudden aggresitivity.

Then Shouyou was crouched by Kenma; Asahi and Sugawara saw the whole thing, including Hinata’s face turning red and his mouth moving and pronouncing the incriminating words. 

Not being as oblivious as the two young teens, they realized what Shouyou had said and attacked Daichi as soon as they had the opportunity (actually, Suga did; Asahi just stepped aside and watched him fiercely punch the boy).

“How. Dare. You. Interrupt. Them,” said Suga, each word punctuated with a punch in a different exposed body part.

“Wait, what? Suga, _wait_ -” murmured Daichi, doubling over in pain as the fist collided with his stomach. “Interrupt what?” he asked, his obliviousness making Sugawara sigh and take Asahi by the elbow, leading him away and not bothering to answer the question.

“He’s even more clueless than those two,” lamented Sugawara.


	28. it sounds like a bear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so. yeah. this is a very short chapter, i know. however. _there are only two chapters left what am i supposed to do after this_

Everybody’s plans for spending the next day outside in the sun went down the drain as they woke up to over six meters of snow piled up outside.

“Kageyama, _hurry up_! Daichi’ll wake up soon!” screeched Hinata, scarf tied haphazardly and hat crooked.

“I’m almost ready, dumbass! Shut up!”

Hinata stuck out his tongue and screamed as his friend noticed and lunged for him.

They were almost at the door when a sudden noise made them stop in their tracks.

“...what was that?” whispered Hinata.

The noise sounded again, this time closer.

“It sounds like a bear.”

“Dumbass, don’t be stupid! There’s no bears inside the hotel!” replied Kageyama, but his eyes were wide and scared as he glanced around them, searching for the source.

They both screamed as they were suddenly grabbed from behind by their collars.

“What are you two doing here?” asked Sugawara from where he was standing beside an angry Daichi, who was holding the two boys by their jackets.

“Were you thinking of going outside in this weather without telling anyone?”

Kageyama and Hinata gulped, shaking their heads resolutely.

“That’s good then,” murmured Daichi, not buying it for a second. He let the two go. “Don’t let me find you here again.”

The two murmured a vague apology and darted back towards their room.

Hinata suddenly stopped when he noticed a door ajar, dim light trickling from inside. Silent, he motioned for his friend to go ahead and steeled himself before knocking on the door and opening it.

Kenma was sitting at the foot of his bed, blankets draped on the side of the mattress and partially covering him. The light Hinata had noticed before came from the gameboy the blonde was holding, its intense light making the boy squint at it.

“Kenma!” greeted Shouyou, heading to the boy and sitting down next to him. “Whatcha playing?”

“Sonic the Hedgehog,” replied Kozume, apparently disappointed with himself for not having something cooler with him. However, Hinata was not disappointed in the slightest, if his smile was any indication. 

“Ooh, I used to have that game too! But I broke the PSP and wasn’t allowed to buy a new one,” Shouyou said, smiling and staring intently at the screen.

“...wanna play?” Kenma hesitantly asked, remembering how much of a disaster his friend had been at Breath of The Wild.

Hinata nodded excitedly and Kenma handed him the game.

Turned out that the orange-haired boy wasn’t that much of a disaster; in fact, he was very good at it. Kenma was pretty sure that he wasn’t as good as Hinata.

“Too bad it isn’t multiplayer, we could have played together!” exclaimed Shouyou as he beat the highscore the second time.

Kenma’s answering smile did weird things to Hinata’s stomach.

Shouyou opened his mouth but promptly closed it again.

He could confess later. He didn’t want the moment to end.


	29. let's build an igloo!

As Hinata, with Kenma by his side, opened the door leading outside, he was greeted by a sudden draft of startlingly cold air. He inhaled sharply, grinning fiercely and glancing at his friend with the corner of his eye. Kenma was smiling at the winter landscape as well, the light reflected by the frozen surface illuminating blonde strands in a way Hinata secretly found angelic.

The blonde’s eyes flicked to him and Hinata found himself pinned under his gaze. The charm was broken by Kageyama, or more exactly, his snowball, as it hit Shouyou square in the face.

“I’ll get you for that, Bakageyama!” swore Hinata as he lunged for his friend, tackling him in the snow and shoving the frozen material in his face.

Tsukishima loudly laughed and earned a snowball in the face from Tanaka. Kuroo took this chance to push the distracted boy into a pile of snow, breaking into a run as an enraged Yamaguchi chased after him, snowball in hand.

After the group had gotten tired, Kenma all the while having stared at them amusedly from the side, Hinata grabbed him by the hand. He pulled him towards the giant pile of snow that had previously caused much of Tsukishima’s suffering.

“Kenma!” he grinned, bouncing on the spot and facing his friend, having let go of his hand and now regretting it terribly.

“...hm?”

“Let’s build an igloo!” he declared, arms spread wide and eyes twinkling excitedly.

They were joined by Tanaka and an over-enthusiastic Nishinoya, the two racing to earn Shimizu’s attention, who was paying them no mind, talking instead with Yachi. 

“Guys, do you want to take a break?” called Sugawara from inside after a couple of hours passed and the igloo was almost finished.

Tanaka and Nishinoya darted inside the hotel, but Hinata and Kenma did not leave, instead only slumping down inside the igloo, facing each other.

“Having fun, Kenma?” inquired Shouyou, his breath clouding in front of him.

Kozume nodded, smiling as he readjusted the scarf around his neck. His frozen fingers fumbled with the material and he hissed, giving up and instead rubbing his palms together.

“Let me help,” murmured Hinata, leaning forward to untie his friend’s scarf, the material soft in his hands. He re-tied it, careful not to get any golden strands of hair tangled in the knot.

“All done~” he said and pulled back, warmly smiling at Kenma.

He froze as he realised how close their faces were. The clouds that were their exhalations mixed with each other, until they didn’t anymore because both of them had stopped breathing.

 _...Should I tell him?_ mused Hinata as they maintained eye contact.

Kenma was the first to glance away, smile gone and cheeks rosy not only from cold. He stood up and brushed off the snow stuck to the material of his trousers.

“I’m cold, I’ll see you inside,” he muttered and walked out of the igloo and into the hotel, heart beating thunderously.

Hinata said nothing, still frozen to the spot. After a few moments, he shook his head and snapped out of the reverie; he stood up and followed Kenma.

Unbeknownst to him, Tsukishima had seen the whole incident and was frowning, hands in pockets and eyes narrowed in deep thought.

These two idiots were starting to get on his nerves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tsukishima has had **enough**
> 
> only one more chapter to go! [wipes away a tear] what am i even going to do after this??  
> would anyone be interested in reading some more one-shots in this universe afterwards?  
> also, i was thinking of writing a kenhina Neighbor AU; maybe also an internet friends one; so stay tuned!
> 
> don't forget that i take requests! find my @ in my profile! ~~please send me requests writers block is _killing me_~~


	30. when tsukishima snapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter!

“Want some hot chocolate, Hinata?” asked Sugawara, his smile turning concerned as he saw the boy’s suspiciously blank gaze. “Come, let’s talk over there,” he said, pulling him towards the common room, who was empty just then. “What happened?”

“I fucked up,” whispered Hinata and his expression went from empty to crestfallen.

Sugawara motioned for him to go on. Shouyou glanced around him to make sure they were alone and then lowered his voice. That seemed suspect to Suga; Hinata **never** spoke more silently than a yell.

“When Kenma confessed to me last week, I was shocked ‘cause I hadn’t expected it. I’d only seen him as a friend, so I had no idea how to react. You see, Sugawara-san, I was **confused**! But then I got to thinking, and I started noticing things I hadn’t before. I started seeing Kenma as a potential love interest, so I started-” he paused, looking at his hands as he searched for the right words. “I started _feeling_ things; and then I was even more confused! Now, I think I might… like him.”

Sugawara smiled and opened his mouth to congratulate him, but Hinata wasn’t finished.

“I like him, but now he’s started pulling away and I’m afraid he doesn’t feel that way anymore. Did I do something wrong? Should I give him some space? What if he’s changed his min-”

He was interrupted by his senpai, who sternly grabbed his shoulder and shook him fiercely.

Hinata was confused. Wasn’t Sugawara-san supposed to be mild-mannered?

“Hinata. Do you really think your friend’s feelings are that fleeting?” He lifted his hand to stop the boy as he opened his mouth to interrupt. “ _Talk to him._ That’s the only advice I’ll give you, and the best one, I assure you. Tell him how you feel and talk to him. Kozume-san is your friend, you should trust him more.”

He walked away before Hinata could say anything else.

-*-

The whole group was seated around the table, drinking hot chocolate, when Tsukishima snapped. Previously, the teens had been talking about doing this again next year; Hinata had invited Kenma to Miyagi to see how pretty the winter was there. Kozume had blushed and then Shouyou had turned red too.

That was when Tsukishima had finally had enough of it.

“ _Oh my God,_ Simpleton Idiot, just confess already!” he exasperatedly exclaimed, staring at Hinata as the boy rapidly turned an even brighter red.

The whole room paused and time seemed to stretch as everyone seemed to re-evaluate their life choices; the majority was inclined to punch Tsukishima, and Tanaka did just that, laughing and trying to brush it off as a joke.

“Tsukishima, don’t joke like that! Your sense of humour is trash, please don’t try anymore!” he laughed exaggeratedly, subtly glancing at Hinata, who was still processing what had just happened.

The orange-haired boy suddenly stood up, Kenma flinching as the chair loudly hit the ground.

“Kenma! Come with me!” he said, grabbing the blonde by the hand and heading for the nearest hallway before he could chicken out.

Sugawara loudly smacked the back of Tsukishima’s head as the two left the room.

They reached a somewhat suitable place too quickly for Hinata, who was still trying to find his words. So, turning to face Kenma, he did what he did best. He did not think, saying whatever came first to mind.

“I like you! Please go out with me!” he blurted, face tinged with red as Kenma delayed his response.

“...Really?” he searched Shouyou’s eyes for any hint of deception. “You’re not joking?”

Hinata’s face scrunched up, insulted.

“Of course I’m not. I really do like you, Kenma!”

“...I like you too, Shouyou.” He covered his face with his palms as he fiercely blushed. “Though I suppose you knew that already.”

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief and, before he could stop himself, pulled Kenma in a hug.

“...So you’ll go out with me?”

“Of course,” the blonde huffed his reply, tightening his embrace and smiling, feeling pleasantly warm and secure.

Kenma was feeling the safest he had in a long while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, everyone!!  
> thanks for reading!!! i hope the ending didn't seem anti-climatic; the main point of this fic was having kenma overcome his fears, not them kissing. yeah.  
> special thank yous to all of you who commented on the fic as i was updating, your support truly meant a lot to me!  
> even if the fic is finished, comments still brighten up my day! please do leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed reading this!
> 
> i hope you had as much fun reading this as i had writing it!

**Author's Note:**

> click that kudos button or spam me with comments!!!  
> ʕ≧㉨≦ʔ ʕ≧㉨≦ʔ


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